#but i don't think they leave the tardis and immediately live happily ever after together

[the--highlanders]

also I genuinely love the various bits of eu canon that say that ben and polly have a pretty rocky relationship after leaving the tardis. like. here are two people who meet in normal everyday circumstances, and are mutually attracted despite clashing a bit. deciding to meet up again ends up with them experiencing something they won't ever be able to explain to anyone else. the differences between them stop mattering so much. they're each other's only touchstone of home for months, save each other's lives repeatedly, and bond more closely than they might ever have done had they stayed on earth.

and then they get to /go/ home, and it's... normal. it's everyday. it's everything they've been missing. and suddenly all that closeness they've built up just /cracks/. the differences between them come crashing back in. they can't look at each other without remembering what they've left behind. they can't bear to be without each other and risk forgetting. they need someone who doesn't understand. they can't be with anyone but the person who /does/ understand. they can't help but keep finding their way back to each other over and over again.